Of White and Silver
by Ankha
Summary: Based on GSFI: Ever wonder how the relationship (father and son) between Dumbledore and Severus began? It was one night at Christmas, when the halls were dark and Dumbledore was taking a midnight stroll. And what should he find but a wee little Slytherin.


A/N: Just a bit of fluffiness between Grandpa and Sev. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Of coure I don't own this, if I did, don't you think I'd be working on the sixth book? YES so that means no money is being made.

**Of**** White**** and****Silver**

Albus Dumbledore was a caring man, if a bit odd, as people like to think. He never told them that his oddness was nothing compared to his brother's and instead allowed himself to be amused by their assumptions. He stood at an imposing six foot three inches in height but never used that to his advantage unless it was absolutely necessary and he hated when it was necessary. Disciplining students was NOT pleasant but he found it necessary more often than he would have liked. His snow white hair and beard, which he was VERY proud of thank you very much and no there was no way he would EVER cut it for any reason, flowed to his waist and had lost its last hints of auburn only a few years before. His gold half-moon glasses sat on the end of his very crooked nose (that had indeed been broken twice; once by his brother when they were young and the second time by Grindlewald) and he only really needed them for reading but saw no reason not to continually wear them. They had been charmed to be ordinary glass when he was not reading and they would automatically switch when he did. He happened to think they made him look very distinguished. His robes were chosen specifically to reflect his cheerful and dare he say bright?-personality. But not everything within him was bright. Though he would admit it to no one but Fawkes, the faithful creature, there was a large hole within him and no matter how hard he tried to fill it, he could not. And it ached, constantly. 

Now he chose to walk down the hall for no apparent reason. Many of the things he did had no apparent reason but he did not let that effect him or those around him. What he did was really not of his own volation, something deep inside him, deep in that hole, was pulling him out of his rooms and into this cold hall. The students had only arrived at the school that day from the Christmas holidays and he had seen many of them chatting cheerfully among themselves as they strolled up and down the halls, sharing not only what they received and gave for Christmas but also stories of what they had done with their parents. He always found Christmas a joyful occasion but never enjoyed it as much as his collegies thought. He merely let them think that but it was not true, never had been. It was a time when the hole within ached more fiercely than at any other time and this year was no exception. It would be the day after tomorrow before the students returned to class and he found himself here, alone.

Perhaps not so alone after all, he thought, as he imagined he heard a sniffle ahead of him. Curiousity piqued he wrapped his natural invisibilty around him as though it were a cloak (which it was not) and glided silently forward. The noise was not repeated but before long he came across what had caused it in the first place. It was a bundle of black cloth which blended almost perfectly into the surrounding shadows. It took him a moment to realize that this was a student and only then it was because it shifted slightly in an attempt to seek more comfort. Kneeling beside the bundle, he placed a hand on the child's back. The moment he did the ache within him flared then eased, pushing him towards this child. He barely contained a gasp but managed. The child did not react to his touch at all except to imperceptably lean towards him. His decision firmly made he lifted the child into his arms, gaining again no reaction, and stood, heading back in the direction of his rooms. As the child and he were in fuller contact the hole within filled almost magically though not all the way and it was still very much present. 

The trip was thankfully short and undisturbed, partially thanking to his invisibility and the holiday. Tapping the eyes of his gargoyle he allowed the stairs to take him up instead of walking himself as he normally did. Once inside the safety of his quarters he carefully placed his precious bundle on the couch, immediately missing the contact, and began to make the room more comfortable. Lighting a fire in the over-sized fireplace he returned to the couch. The light from the flames allowed him now to see more but still not who the child was but he did not care, this little one needed his help. Hurrying quickly to his bedroom he rifled through his wardrobe and pulled several soft afgans, blankets and even a few pillows and brought them back to the sitting room. Sitting once more he placed them on the back of the couch and began to try and uncurl the small child, wondering how he could be comfortable at all. Though he had not seen the face and the mass of long black locks should have pointed to a girl he knew instinctively that this child was his boy. 

A jolt ran through him at that thought. His boy. His boy. His. Boy. Now wasn't that strange because as everyone very well knew Albus Dumbledore did not have children. Albus had never found that special someone to marry and start a family with and at his age it was extremely unlikely that he ever would which pained him to no end. But still...

He pushed the thought aside and busied himself with pulling the boy from his self-imposed ball. It took a few more tugs but eventually he unrolled. The Headmaster's eyes widened; it was Severus Snape, a first year Slytherin. This child had arrived back at Hogwarts only yesterday with everyone else, what had he been doing all alone in the hall. 

But that was put aside for later thought as the child whimpered from what ever nightmare he had been suffering and clung to the Headmaster's hand. With another sweep of his hand Albus changed the boy's clothes to sleeping wear and changed his as well. Widening the couch he arranged the pillows in a sort of quasi-nest (though in a way he could still hold the child) and wrapped him in two blankets to quell the shivering and spreading the rest to provide more cushion. Severus shivered mightly before his body returned to a comfortable temperature and he sighed, latching onto the Headmaster's nightshirt. Albus could only smile. With one withered hand he stroked the downy soft hair. 

"You are safe, my child." 

  
  
  
Severus wasn't sure what had happened but he was not going to allow it to bother him. Christmas had come and gone and he had been forced to return home though he had desperately hoped that perhaps, just perhaps, that his parents would allow him to stay at Hogwarts. But no, they wouldn't; their letter had made it _quite_ clear that he would be returning home. So his hopes of a peaceful and joyful Christmas had flown out the window on the wings of the family owl and he'd been miserable from the day he had got on the train till he had returned to Hogwarts.

Oh, his parents did not want him home because they loved him, never would they want such a thing. They had merely wanted him to be there for the important gathering they had hosted to "show" him off. Of course, if he disobeyed them in any way it was straight into the "disicipline room". It was a windowless four foot-by-four foot closet that was absolutely pitch black. That's why he HATED the dark and kept some sort of light source by him when ever he went to sleep. 

But when he had returned to school he had found himself becoming sick by listening to everyone speak of how wonderful _their_ Christmas had been. Of course, he thought bitterly, they had nice parents, unlike his. Sometimes he wondered why he was even alive, Salazar and Jasmine had made it QUITE obvious to him several times that they didn't like children, even if it was their own son. 

So, after discovering he could take no more of the cheerfulness that permeated even the usually gloomy Slytherin dormitories, he had left, seeking solace. He had found it in the darkness, which made him wonder, but could do nothing about it. When he had discovered a spot rather out of the way where he would not likely be discovered by Filch, he had burrowed himself there, curling into a ball. He felt the most safe when in a ball, it was the best way to protect himself from raining blows when his parents thought he needed them. Once there, all of it had come out, anger, hate, resentment, loneliness, immense loneliness and the tears flowed. He had no one, not one person in all the world who even cared let alone loved him. That's what hurt the most for he had always had this hole in his heart, large and all consuming, that could not be filled. No one could fill it.

He'd eventually fallen to sleep, exhausted by the emotional upheavels and allowed sweet Morphus to charm him into his arms. But the god of dreams had not been kind and assualted in the form of painful nightmares that wrenched suffering noises from him. 

But it hadn't lasted. A touch, one of tentative curiosity and concern chased it away and wrapped him warmth. Then that warmth became real as he was pulled into strong arms and off the floor. That was when the hole was filled, not all the way, but not completely empty any longer. The relief was so immense that he had almost burst into tears of thankfulness but had not, instead deciding to enjoy these foreign feelings. 

The touch had disappeared of course, as he feared it would and the dreams had once more forced themselves upon him, leaving him paralyzed in fear. He found himself trapped in the dark place he feared most, its unseen claws slowly reaching to take him in...

Then the warmth returned, increasing greatly. The small Slytherin felt a spell pass over him but was completely unconcerned about what it had done. Instead he busied himself by seeking that warmth, bringing it as close to him as possible. His hand found fabric and clenched tightly in it, an anchoring force. A hand ran through his hair; a soothing gesture he realised. 

"You are safe, my child." Those words, filled with the warmth that was filling his heart, washed over him and made him, MADE him feel protected and...loved. LOVED! Nothing in his life had ever made him feel that way. He had to know who held him, he just had to. So he opened his eyes.

  
  
  
Albus watched with a bit of trepidation as Severus opened his almost too large eyes to peer up at him in surprise. His smile did not falter and his hand did not pause as it continued through the child's hair. The obsidian eyes noticed this and emotions flashed through them too fast for the Headmaster to interpret. But he didn't need to as the child suddenly snuggled closer, letting his eyes fall close in content. Albus's smile only widened, knowing the child understood, on some level, that he would be accepted by him always, no matter what he did. 

  
  
  
The Headmaster, he should have known. He had the only man that had ever, EVER helped him. Part of him had known and berated him for not figuring it out earlier. But that didn't matter now, what did was the man was not going anywhere and would be there for him and only him. That's all he wanted. So of course, when the man made to get up, he hugged the waist he held tighter. A chuckle greeted this action but it was not of malicious intent whatsoever.

"Dear child, I was only going to get you some hot chocolate."

  
  
  
Albus was unaccountably pleased when the small Slytherin would not release the waist he was currently holding. He stroked the pale cheek, trying smooth away the fear he saw sparking in those large orbs.

"Dear child, I was only going to get you some hot chocalate." When Severus made no move to him, he only chuckled again and held out his hand, a purple bell pull appearing it. He gave it a tug, explaining to Severus that he was calling the house elves since it seemed he was needed here. The cerulean blue eyes danced when he spoke that and the point was not lost on the child. Seconds later two mugs of the steaming sweet drink appeared on the table next to the couch and the Headmaster offered one to Severus as he sipped his own. After a minute the Slytherin took the proffered drink and too took a drink. A look of pure bliss passed over his face as he rolled the chocolate around on his tongue, enjoying it to no end. How he missed these things when he went home! There he was not allowed sweets, as a rule, but here he could have as much as he wanted. In no time it was gone, leaving him sleepier than ever before and he wrapped himself around the Headmaster, seeking an elbow to pillow his head. He found it and drifted off to the most perfect sleep he had ever had in his life.

  
  
  
Albus watched as his child slipped back under, his arm firmly around the small body. No, this child would not be going back to the Slytherin dormitories this night, but would stay here, allowing them both to bask in this new feeling between them. Where it would lead them, he could only wonder but for tonight, he would not worry and merely enjoy it. 

For know he had a child.

And that child was Severus. 

He would never be alone again.

***THE END***

A/N: What do you think? Did you enjoy it? Did it totally confuse you? Likely so if you haven't read "Gold and Silver, Fire and Ice" which if you liked this, I would suggest you read. I just love wonderful little relationships like this! Aren't they cute?!?! 

For all of you that have read GSFI, I think you can figure out why the "hole" in their hearts wasn't entirely filled. If you can't, think, fire child. 

PLEASE REVIEW!!! 


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